Psychology In Seattle Podcast Psychic Retreats (2016 Rerun)
Aug 21, 2025
Discover the intriguing concept of psychic retreats, a defense mechanism for coping with stress. The discussion links childhood experiences to adult relationships, revealing how emotional neglect shapes rigid beliefs and black-and-white thinking. Explore the challenges of navigating mental health resources in our digital age and the importance of professional guidance. Additionally, delve into the dynamics of therapist-patient interactions, highlighting emotional triggers like shame and abandonment, and the potential risks of sharing personal tales in therapy.
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Psychic Retreats Are Defensive Withdrawals
- John Steiner described psychic retreats as rigid psychic withdrawals that defend against early emotional harm.
- These retreats create resistance in therapy and produce paranoid, isolating beliefs about others.
Extreme Acts Linked To Rigid Propaganda
- Honda speculates that rigid propaganda and retreat can underlie extreme actions like 9-11 perpetrators viewing America as all bad.
- He frames this as an extension of early shame and retreat into fantasy, though he calls it speculative.
Splitting Shapes Lifelong Black-And-White Thinking
- Early splitting (paranoid-schizoid) hinders seeing people as both good and bad, delaying mature depressive position development.
- Staying split leads to black-and-white political and relational thinking in adulthood.